Manitoba Digital Agriculture Symposium 2026

Dr. Mohammad Nadimi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering at the University of Manitoba, having begun his faculty appointment in April 2025. Dr. Nadimi’s research sits at the intersection of smart sensing, spectroscopy, imaging, artificial intelligence, and digital agriculture, with a focus on developing practical technologies for grain storage, quality assessment, and postharvest monitoring. An active contributor to the academic community, he has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 20 conference papers. He also serves as a Senior Editor for the Elsevier journal Measurement: Food and as a co-guest editor for Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. Dr. Nadimi was recognized in the Stanford–Elsevier World’s Top 2% Scientists List in 2025. As Principal Investigator, he has secured approximately $587,000 in research funding, including about $455,000 from external sources. Dr. Nadimi is the founder and Chair of the 1st Manitoba Digital Agriculture Symposium.

Dr. Aitazaz A. Farooque is a professor of precision agriculture and the Director of the Canadian Center for Climate Change and Adaptation at the University of Prince Edward Island. His research advances climate-smart technologies for Canadian agriculture, earning recognition among Canada’s top researchers and the NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement. He has supervised over 150 trainees and published 200+ peer-reviewed papers in top journals. Dr. Farooque has secured over $18 million in research funding and led major multi-million-dollar projects. His work is widely recognized through national and international awards, including the King Charles III Coronation Medal and induction into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars. He is a Professional Engineer and Agrologist and has played a key role in advancing precision agriculture-focused education and research in Atlantic Canada.

This keynote talk explores how digital agriculture can meaningfully enhance farm profitability, with a focused lens on potato production systems. Drawing from applied research and field-scale implementation, this talk synthesizes lessons learned from integrating advanced technologies into real-world farming operations. The presentation begins with crop scouting innovations and smart applicators, highlighting how sensor-based detection, imaging tools, and targeted input delivery systems improve decision-making while reducing input costs and environmental impact. It then examines variable rate technologies, including variable rate seeding, demonstrating how spatial field variability can be leveraged to optimize seed placement, fertilizer use, yield efficiency, and quality.

We will discuss the greenhouse gas emission monitoring and modelling, emphasizing the role of data-driven tools and simulation approaches in quantifying emissions and identifying mitigation strategies aligned with climate-smart agriculture goals. This is complemented by insights into sustainable water management practices, where precision irrigation, soil moisture sensing, and predictive analytics contribute to improved water-use efficiency and resilience under changing climate conditions. Collectively, these themes illustrate a pathway toward a more profitable and sustainable agriculture system through digital transformation. The keynote will also discuss barriers to adoption, including economic, technical, and knowledge-transfer challenges, and propose actionable strategies to accelerate uptake among growers. By bridging cutting-edge research with practical applications, this talk aims to inform policy, guide industry stakeholders, and support farmers in navigating the transition toward data-driven, and climate-resilient agriculture.

Dr. Ian Stavness is a Professor and the Head of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan. He directs the CREATE in Computational Agriculture training program, which provides cross-discipline graduate training to students at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Manitoba. He obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Bio-Engineering at Stanford University prior to joining the University of Saskatchewan in 2012. His research focuses on Visual AI with applications in biology, agriculture, and medicine.

Breakthroughs in 3D radiance-field rendering and feedforward models that directly infer 3D structure are rapidly reshaping what’s possible in 3D visual perception for metrology, robotics, and beyond. In this talk, I will survey the fast moving frontier of 3D Gaussian splatting, 3D tokenization for transformer architectures, and emerging perceptual pipelines that lift 2D semantic understanding into fully reconstructed 3D worlds with semantic labels. I will ground these advances in the demanding real world challenge of measuring agronomic plants that are densely packed, self occluded, and often highly self similar. Accurate 3D plant capture unlocks new opportunities for plant breeding, digital agriculture, and large scale plant phenotyping. I will conclude with a reflection on the tremendous opportunity for digital agriculture within Western Canada and how the CREATE in Computational Agriculture program is training USask and UM students to meet this opportunity.

Elena GomezHaro Aceves is the Industry and Funding Partner Liaison for the Manitoba Centre for Digital Agriculture (MCDA) since January 2026. She holds an MSc in Food Science from the University of Manitoba and brings 20 years of combined experience across innovation, R&D, quality assurance, marketing and as a University instructor. Elena has successfully secured funding for over 100 applied research proposals and has extensive experience working with both technical and non-technical teams, enabling effective collaboration with international research and industry partners, provincial and federal funding agencies, and research centres across Canada.

Her career includes roles at multinational companies such as PepsiCo and Danone, SMEs such as BioChambers and Prairie West Ice Cream, and working for the Government of Manitoba and the Prairie Research Kitchen at RRC Polytech as the Research Manager and Industry Liaison Manager.

Katherine Stanley is the Research Program Manager for Special Crops at Manitoba Crop Alliance. She works closely with farmer-led committees in sunflower, flax and corn to ensure farmer research priorities are clearly identified and effectively matched with leading researchers. Katherine also oversees MCA’s Whole Farm Research Program, supporting projects that delivery practical, farm-scale insights for Manitoba farmers. With more than a decade of experience in research and extension, she is deeply committed to advancing Canadian agriculture and driving innovation that reflects the needs of farmers.

With more than 25 years of experience across research, industry, and government. She holds a PhD and Master of Science in Crop Breeding and Pathology from the University of Manitoba. Rooted in her family’s third‑generation farm near Morden, Patti works with the MPSG team to support growers through applied research, extension, and information that supports practical, on‑farm decision‑making.  MPSG represents Manitoba’s pulse and soybean farmers and invests in research, agronomy, market development, and policy to strengthen the long‑term success of the agricultural sector. MPSG is enhancing its work in digital agriculture, focusing on farmer‑driven tools and approaches that fit Manitoba production systems and emerging data needs.

Dr. Delaquis, is the Research & Agronomy Manager with Manitoba Canola Growers Association and farms with her family in south central Manitoba. She completed her PhD at the University of Manitoba in Agronomy and holds Professional Agrologist, Certified Crop Advisor and 4R Agronomist Designations. She completed her MSc at the University of Alberta in Weed Science and BSc in Agronomy from U of M.

Dr. Jitendra Paliwal is Vice-President, Research and Innovation and Professor of Applied Computer Science at the University of Winnipeg. An internationally recognized engineer and applied scientist, his work bridges digital agriculture, artificial intelligence, intelligent sensing, and food systems innovation. Over more than two decades, he has advanced non-invasive imaging and predictive technologies that enhance grain quality, storage safety, and sustainable food production.

Dr. Paliwal has authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications, holds multiple patents, and has led multidisciplinary research collaborations with industry, government, and international partners. His innovations have contributed to widely adopted technologies in the agri-food sector.

As a senior academic leader, he oversees the university’s research enterprise and serves on several national boards supporting Canada's research infrastructure and innovation ecosystem. He is a Fellow of Engineers Canada and the Canadian Society for Bioengineering.

Glenn Friesen is the Digital Agriculture Policy Lead with Manitoba Agriculture and a national contributor to advancing digital agriculture in Canada. He is leading the development of Manitoba’s Digital Agriculture Strategy while working across jurisdictions to strengthen alignment on data stewardship, interoperability, and innovation policy. With over two decades of experience across agriculture, sustainability, and agri-food systems, Glenn operates at the nexus of policy, technology, and ecosystem building. He has led extensive engagement with producers, technology firms, researchers, governments, and international partners to help shape trusted digital ecosystems that enhance competitiveness, resilience, and long-term value for Canada’s agri-food sector.

PTx (a division of AGCO) where he leads the product teams executing on AGCO’s retrofit-first, mixed-fleet autonomy approach to deploy autonomous agriculture solutions to broad acre machine applications across the crop cycle. He has worked in development of advanced technology products for more than 25 years. Darcy joined PTx/AGCO in 2022 through acquisition of JCA Technologies, where he led the organization as General Manager and built the technology and team that now has become part of the PTx autonomy solutions over more than a decade. Prior to JCA, Darcy worked as an engineer in technology development across various industries including off-highway machine, medical equipment, and space systems. Darcy holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba, and an MBA from the Asper School of Business.

Dr. Aitazaz A. Farooque is a professor of precision agriculture and the Director of the Canadian Center for Climate Change and Adaptation at the University of Prince Edward Island. His research advances climate-smart technologies for Canadian agriculture, earning recognition among Canada's top researchers and the NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement. He has supervised over 150 trainees and published 200+ peer-reviewed papers in top journals. Dr. Farooque has secured over $18 million in research funding and led major multi-million-dollar projects. His work is widely recognized through national and international awards, including the King Charles III Coronation Medal and induction into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars. He is a Professional Engineer and Agrologist and has played a key role in advancing precision agriculture-focused education and research in Atlantic Canada.

Dr. Ian Stavness is a Professor and the Head of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan. He directs the CREATE in Computational Agriculture training program, which provides cross-discipline graduate training to students at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Manitoba. He obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Bio-Engineering at Stanford University prior to joining the University of Saskatchewan in 2012. His research focuses on Visual AI with applications in biology, agriculture, and medicine.